Harvests and Blood
by PetalQuartzdove
Summary: My first Hunger Games fanfic.


My first Hunger Games fanfiction. Enjoy.

Zane awoke to shifting besides him in his bed. Besides him was the only living person he had left. His only blood link, his sister, Aleah. Even in no light, her reddish-blonde hair was like orange gold, spread messily onto the pillow behind her head. The ten year old cuddled up to her brother, her hands shaking, trying to get more warmth from the bed the two shared. "Big Brother, you awake?" she asked, in a sickly voice. He looked over at her. "Yes, I'm awake. Did you have another nightmare." Shaky, she nodded. She had always been a weak, fragile and unhealthy child, and it was easy to be seen, especially when she was frightened from a nightmare. Zane took her into his arms. "Do you want to talk about it now or in the morning? But...you know I have to go in the mor-" She spoke up, whimpering and crying. "Za-za, they took you. They took you away from me and left me all alone.." Her voice cracked, going an even higher pitch. "The mean people from the Capytal made me be alone."

Zane rubbed the back of her head. "Shhhhhhhshshshshsh. It's alright. You know the Hunger Games will only be in two days. We have plenty of time. It's going to be okay, I know plenty more people in this hellhole that put their names in more than me." Since Zane was only 15, he had little to worry over. Most of his friends were 17. "You're not going to be alone. Someone else in this farm-filled-district will go. We will miss him and her, but it will not be me. The odds are against it. We've been lucky this far." He looked out the window. It was still night. The shaky mass in his arms began to breathe calmer, rubbing her head into Zane's chest.

"I love you, Za-za." Aleah said. Zane kisssed her forehead and gave her his most optimistic smile, which only his sister ever sees. "Love you too, Al. Get some sleep, you don't want to be sleepy all day tomarrow do you?" Her lips turned up into a small smile and she shook her head lazily. "Nuh-uh." Zane's smile grew. "Ah, there's that cute little smile. Okay. It's time to get some sleep. If you need anything else, be sure to wake me up, okay?" Aleah gave a slight nod, before letting go of her brother and evening herself out, closing her eyes. Zane watched her for a few moments before following what she did, and slowly lulled himself back to sleep.

Zane awoke to a burst of light entering his room and the little scraps of cloth that were their curtains flowing in the breeze. His eyes slowly opened, and noticed his sister was still asleep and had latched onto him in the night. He carefully got up, gently setting her arms onto the empty side of the bed. He quickly exited the shack that was his house and unearthed some of the food they had been saving, all there, in a small box he had seen laying in the dirt road. He had gotten out some of the fruit that he had collected in the early hours of the morning and a small, precooked (they have a village bonfire every month and he saves all the meat until then to cook), squirrel. He smiled, walking inside, using the chipped and slightly broken shard of metal he used as a knife to carve the apple into slices, surrounding the squirrel with the slices. He set down the shard and went to the doorway. Laying next to it lied his sickle he used for farming and a not-too-badly made wooden spear. At the end of it was half of the shard that he had just used for a knife, with one half the spear and the other the knife. Once he had his weapons in hand, he ran for the entrence to the forest that bordered the district.

On Zane's way, he saw his "extended family." On the path to his safe haven, the forest, few people were up and awake. He had to move quickly and go to the forest in the early hours of the morning or else the fence would be alive and dancing with electricity. The few houses that he passed on his way to the forest were ones of his "aunts" and "uncles" and "cousins" that made up his pretend family. The only blood relative he had was his sister, but that did not mean he could not pretend the district was his family.

A middle aged woman, looking starving as ever smiled at the boy as he passed. "Good morning, dear. Bring me something, will you? I have a gift for your little sister." Zane smiled to her and nodded, stepping up to her porch for just a moment. "Yes, Aunt Olive." Olive grinned, getting up from her horrible quality chair she was before sitting on and embraced the boy. "How is little Ally?" Zane's smile began to vanish. "She is still weak, but she's...going to be okay." Olive ended the hug and pulled him to her eyelength. "I made her a present, so you can grab it when you're done..." She lowered her voice. "Hunting." Zane smiled. "Thank you." Olive let go of him and he turned to leave, looking back to wave before continuing on his hurried path.

Olive was the closest thing to a mother that Zane and Aleah had. They used to have a mother and father, until their father died from an illness and a week after that they returned to school to find their mother hanging from the rafters. Then, Zane would become the only family that Aleah had, and vice versa and they both tried to take care of each other. That is the main reasin Aleah is scared of the capitol- she is afraid that her brother will be chosen, and she won't be able to save him that way and she will be alone.

Soon, Zane reached the edge of the forest. The fence had no sign of life. Perfect. He latched onto the fence and began to climb. He made almost not a sound at all, and once he reached the top, he tossed his spear and sickle to the other side then went to the ground flying, like the graceful bird he was not at all. He landed on his feet and picked up his weapons, then went running to the forest.

Zane first stopped at a small lake in a heavily treed place. Here, the waters were clear and they soothed his emptiness. He put out his hand and let the water flow through his fingers and he brought his hand to his mouth, taking in the water. He noticed a fish swimming around, and he readied his spear, aiming for it. He made a small whisper, a quick "Thank you, and I'm sorry." and he quickly stabbed the metal into the fish, it ripping through its head and dieing instantly. He brought the fish up from the spear and he took it off, carrying it with him, heading to where he knew that his friend was.

Zane followed a path deeper into the forest, where a boy with black hair lay asleep in a tree. "Morning, Apis." His eyes sprung open, then he looked down to Zane with a smirk. "Hey, Zane. What'th up?" he lisped. Zane grinned. "Not too much." Apis lept from the tree, only grabbing a branch at the last moment, then letting go, gently touching the ground. "Tho, let'th wrap thith one up quickly today. Telling from the thadows..." He looked to the shadows of the trees surrounding the two. His eyebrow lifted. "You're late."

Zane sighed, rolling his eyes. "I'm sorry. I had to go talk to Olive, and well..." Apis chuckled. "Don't thweat it. I think we thould thpend leth time talking and get to hunting! Time'th-a-wathtin!" Zane's eyes searched the area. He saw a chipmunk carefully picking at the leaf-filled ground, trying to find a scrap of some sort of food. "You already got a fith. Let me get thith one." He pointed to a squirrel not too far from it. "You can have that thquirrel." Zane nodded, readying his spear. Apis took his bow, notching an arrow to it.

Zane focused on luring the squirrel in close. The squirrel slowly emerged closer to the two slowly. When it stopped, Zane had his bets that the distance would be the closest. With speed, he threw the spear at the unsuspecting squirrel, hitting it straight into the head, and with a few twitches, it ceased living. He walked up to it slowly and collected it. "We have plenty leftovers." Zane said, pulling the spear from the corpse that will become a meal. "I probably don't need to hunt that much." Apis frowned. "I don't do leftoverth." Soon, after getting and collecting many animals, Apis noticed the alignment of the shadows. "It'th time for you to go. Take care."

Apis smiled towards Zane, waving. Zane waved and grinned, turning around to return to Hell, leaving Heaven. Zane then stopped in his tracks. "Apis?" Apis shrugged, curious. "Yeah? What ith it? You don't want to be late." Zane turned around. "What's it like to live in the forest where you can be free?" Apis was quiet for a moment. "It'th harder than it thounds. Ethpecially on the Reaping Day." Apis tried to hide the tears down his face, turning away. "But it'th better than living in the houthe my parenth died of thome thtrange illneth in." Zane almost said something, his voice cracking, and he had to rack his mind to search for what it was. "I know how it feels. My father...your mother and father...what's happening to this place? First the Peace Keepers are horrible sadists and now some sort of plague is ruining our lives further. I'll probably die from that plague too, if not the Hunger Games!" His hand that was not fist deep in animals clawed at his pantleg.

Apis frowned. "Everyone...thinkth I died. It'th tho thelfith of me, right? My friendth needed me. Ethpecially Liz." Hearing him meantion her name was a shock. He had tried to avoid talking about Elizabeth for a long time. The two were best friends, who knows, even lovers. They were constantly together. Now, Liz is constantly alone, and often talks to herself. Zane tried his best to not let him know. "I know, Apis. I'm sorry I brought it up. I need to go. Goodbye, I'll see you tomarrow." Apis nodded and waved, whiping away his tears. "Tell Liz...that if I wath alive, I'd mith her tho much. If the'th alone, tell her that I mith her more than anything." Zane smiled back. "I'll make sure to bring her with me some day, Apis. See you tomarrow, if I manage to sneak here before they set up for the Hunger Games."

Zane had to run as fast as he can, because he spent a lot of time talking to Apis. He quickly threw his things over the fence and speed-climbed over it, then plopping to the other side, just in time, causing him to cough a bit from how rough he landed. Instantly, the fence sparked to life, electricity twirling on the metal fence. He grabbed his belongings and tried to rush home as fast as he could to see his sister, and almost forgot to get Olive's present. He stopped after passing her house, then he walked back to the house with a slight smile.

Zane knocked on the door of Olive's house. After a bit, Olive answered. "Hello, m'dear." Olive said, with a slight tone of sadness in her voice. "Hello, Aunt Olive. What did you have for Aleah?" Aunt Olive paused for a moment. "Come on in, dear, make yourself at home." Zane stepped into the old home, looking around at his surroundings. Olive went over to a small blue scarf, about Aleah's size, and handed it to Zane. "I knitted this for her. I know how dreadfully sick she's been." Zane looked down to it. He had NO idea how she got her hands on such soft material. "I put my heart into it. I wanted to make sure she'd be warm at night." Zane nodded and grinned to her. "You have no idea how grateful I am. I bet she will feel the same. Thank you so much, Aunt Olive."

Olive kissed Zane's forehead. "You're such a polite boy. Now, make sure she gets that scarf." Zane turned and started to head out the door. "Okay, I will." Zane turned to see the old lady see him off. Zane left the building and Olive held the doorknob. Zane quickly remembered about the animals he hunted. "Oh- I almost forgot. Here." He grabbed a farely medium sized bird and handed it to Olive. Olive looked at it, not wanting to accept at first, but then her hunger got the best of her and she took it happily, then grabbing two ears of corn. "My meddlesome daughter, Elizabeth, takes some of the vegetables grown from the feilds. She is quite sneaky, I have no idea how she does not get caught."

Zane remembered what Apis said to him, and was intent on delivering his message. "Where is Elizabeth?" Olive turned to where the bedroom was. "Lizzie! You have a guest!" She quickly got up, running to where Olive was. Her face was completely devoid of emotion. Her long black hair hung wild and her eyes were a rust-y color full of sorrow. "I'll leave you two alone." Olive went into the kitchen, and Zane looked to Elizabeth. She spoke softly, "You're one of...Apis's friends." Zane nodded. "Apis told me to tell you that he misses you more than anything."

Automatically Elizabeth's eyes lit up. "He's alive?" Zane smiled, nodding as the joy completely washed away the emotionless hollow husk that was once the girl in front of him. "I-I should have known that he was... oh thank you so much, Zane. Where is he?" Zane's smile became a bit smaller. "He fled to the forest. He regrets it because he doesn't get to see you. I see him every morning." Elizabeth's eyes softened. "Please. Tomarrow, before the reaping, let me go with you to see him." Zane nodded. "You have to make sure to promise me you'll get up early then come outside descreetly. I'll find you and we'll go together." Elizabeth nodded with happiness. "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much." Elizabeth embraced Zane in an unexpected hug. Once Elizabeth let go, she had tears in her eyes.

Zane then left after that. "Right before sunrise!" Zane shouted back to the teenaged girl. "Don't forget it!" Elizabeth grinned, giving him a thumbs up. Zane quickly went to his home, quickly unburying his box. He quickly stuffed in the food he had gathered and put it back, making sure to completely cover it in soil, keeping it from going spoiled. He went inside to see his sister, just about to go to school. "Aunt Olive made this for you, Al." He presented her with the scarf and the little girl's eyes lit up. "It's perfect! Thank you!" She hugged him, then taking it into her feeble hands, rubbing it gently against her cheek. Zane took it into his hands and wrapped it around his little sister's neck. "Now you look prettier than ever."

Aleah giggled, hugging her brother. "Za-za, did you catch plenty of food?" Zane wrapped his arms around Aleah, picking her up, then setting her back down on the floor. "Yes, plenty. Now, you head to school, Al, or should I walk you?" Aleah stopped the hug and smiled weakly at Zane. "Walk with me please." Zane set down his weapons in the corner and took Aleah's hand, opening the door and walking out into the now noon day. Aleah frowned. "Do I have to go to school? I really hate it there." Zane looked down at her. "What? I thought you loved school." Aleah pinched her eyes shut. "Yeah, I used to before everyone decided they'd make me feel horrible!" Zane frowned. "Do I need to teach some bullies a lesson?"

Aleah looked to the ground. "N-No, Big Brother. That would probably make things worse." Zane sighed. "I used to get bullied too. Whenever they do that, tell the teacher, okay?" Aleah began to sniffle. "Whenever I do that they bully me for telling a teacher." Zane frowned. Poor kid. "Keep doing it. They'll leave you alone if you do. Trust me." Aleah nodded. "I love you, Za-za." Zane pat her back. "I love you too, Al." They soon approached the school house. Immediately Aleah stopped in her tracks and she began to shake. "It'll be okay. Want to go for a forest walk after school if the fence isn't eletric?" Aleah grinned at the idea and nodded. "Mmk. I'll see you later, Al." Aleah hesitantly walked to the school house. Once she had entered its doors, Zane sighed in releif. She'd go to school another day. But who knows what would happen tomarrow.


End file.
